No lab, absent staff: In Madhya Pradesh’s Balaghat, children deaths uncover lapses

In a recent investigation by Madhya Pradesh's National Joint Outbreak Response Team (NJORT), it was uncovered that an outbreak of illness had tragically claimed the lives of around 32 tribal children in Balaghat since June. The district surveillance unit, responsible for monitoring and addressing such outbreaks, was poorly staffed with only a data manager in charge.

Critical roles such as the District Epidemiologist, responsible for outbreak investigation and data analysis, were vacant, alongside the microbiologist position. Furthermore, the village of Kundekasa had been without an ASHA worker for over a year, resulting in significant gaps in active case detection, community mobilisation, and follow-up.

The children affected exhibited symptoms like high fever, rashes, red spots, stomach pain, and ulcers. Despite the NJORT's visit in August, the deaths had become a political crisis for the BJP government as more families came forward with their stories. The report revealed a weakened health system, with lapses in detecting sick children, maintaining vaccination records, laboratory coordination, tracking deaths, and ensuring proper care for seriously ill children.

The team tested 64 samples for measles, with 25 testing positive; 32 samples for malaria, with 27 testing positive; and 28 samples for dengue, chikungunya, and enterovirus, with one case of each testing positive. All water samples tested positive for adenovirus, and eight of nine samples tested positive for coliform bacteria, indicating poor sanitation and hygiene conditions.